Get advice about how to prepare for a phone interview from the critically acclaimed author of the book “College Students: DO THIS! GET HIRED!”, Mark Lyden. Mr. Lyden has been recruiting, presenting, teaching, and helping college students around the country get HIRED for over 10 years and gives direct practical advice that REALLY WORKS even in this difficult job market. www.DoThisGetHired.com

Approximately, 15 million people are unemployed. Simply put, landing a job today is an extreme uphill challenge. Currently, college graduates find themselves competing with others. Therefore, a different type of strategy is needed. Job Strategies for the 21st Century: How to Assist Today’s College Students during Economic Turbulence by Dr. Daryl Green and William Bailey, provides practical solutions to today’s college grads. Get a copy at www.amazon.com

With such a high unemployment rate, what can college graduates expect when they step into the real world this summer? Seniors at Northwestern University will be graduating in June, and many of them are afraid they might be joining the country’s unemployed. Katharine Euphrat talked to some of them about how the recession has affected their job search.

As children grow out of their little pants and are ready to begin their teens, many parents wonder if they should continue with the homeschooling program. They fear that colleges may not give equal opportunities to a child educated at home.

Many fears of this kind were put to rest when 2 homeschooled boys got admission into Harvard. Harvard does not require a high school diploma for gaining admission to their degree program. Many colleges are more interested in the knowledge and behaviour of the homeschooled children rather than their high school diplomas. In fact, other things being similar many colleges prefer homeschoolers because of the diversity and richness they bring to their college life.

Admission requirements may vary. While some colleges require the child to appear for the SAT, others may need a general equivalency diploma. And some may not care for any tests at all. The criterion may vary depending on the college that you wish to apply to. But, college courses really do not require any high school background or special training.

It is common to come across parents who frantically try to shift out their home school children to high schools because they fear unavailability of college admissions. But college admissions are open to all educated individuals, regardless of whether they are educated at home or at a public school.

Homeschooling and the family

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, almost 1.1 million children underwent homeschooling in 2005 alone. That’s a lot of children. Once upon a time, homeschooling used to be a radical statement – something like a declaration of independence. It was the conservative Christians who advocated homeschooling in the ’80s and legalized it in every State. But the typical homeschooler of the day is not religiously motivated.

Recent surveys indicate that parents are actually quite fed up of the public school systems where much of the learning is superficial and compulsory. They are also concerned about negative school environment ranging from drugs and abuse to negative peer pressure. As a result, we have a surprising mix of people who form the homeschooling world of today. They cut across all religious and regional borders. Their main aim is providing meaningful and productive learning through a method that strengthens the bond between the various members of the family.

All these families have one thing in common – a long enduring commitment to the sanctity of childhood. The children in these families are accorded a primary position. Many believe, and rightly so, that homeschooling allows parents to bring up children in a more natural and nurturing environment. Public schools can make one nervous, diffident and downright mean. Children who get schooled at home are protected from these damaging negative influences till they reach an age where they can handle it.

Homeschooling draws the whole family into the almost religious task of schooling. Everyone is put to work. The parents together form a bond with the children. Any experience can be turned into an educational experience. Both the parents are aware of exactly what is going into their child’s head. Parents also have greater control on the kind of religious and moral values that the child imbibes. Even watching a movie together can become a learning experience. Trips to the libraries and other places become educational as well as recreational.

A homeschooling family is primarily dependent on the income of one earning member. That means that often spending has to be curtailed and proper planning of expenditure is a must. This helps to bring the family members together and everybody gets involved in the process of saving money.

Having a parent at home to supervise, to nurture and care for the children brings with it a lot of love and caring. Even your husband chips in and there just is no room for boredom. Yes, problems do crop up, and there are a lot of misgivings in your mind. But when you know that your kids can always count on you, and your kids know it too, then homeschooling becomes a richly rewarding experience.

There are a lot of homeschooling programs out there, but very few attempt to approach to education similar to the way traditional colleges do. In some cases, state and even private colleges and universities have the same problems with education as public schools do. However, there are also many very fine ones.

Homeschooled students almost without exception excel in college, both in the subject matter they’re taking and in their eagerness to learn. Oftentimes, they are ready to college by the time they’re in their mid to late teens. However, college application can be difficult for homeschooled students, because of the nontraditional setting.

The first obstacle is the absence of transcripts. However, many thousands or perhaps millions of homeschooled students have overcome this. Most universities, even those that are the most prestigious, accept students that have been homeschooled. Here, homeschooled students often excel.

One win over, the problem with the absence of transcripts is one that needs to be taken care of, as the child gets older. Many homeschooled programs have also implemented a structure that makes it easier to keep records and assign grades, such as is done in public schools. Because school records are taken seriously by most colleges, parents who homeschool should start keeping transcripts early and should also began looking for colleges early, in order to target those the homeschooled student might want to be admitted to.

To start, select a half a dozen colleges or universities that you are interested in and then ask the admissions department what they want in transcripts. More universities are becoming used to that question from homeschooled students and their parents. Roughly two million children per year are now homeschooled, and many still choose to go to a traditional four-year college.

Oftentimes, admissions officials look for other ways besides transcripts to judge whether a student is suitable for admission. The first level of admission is decided on purely on the basis of standardized test scores such as the ACT and SAT. Homeschooled students are free to take these just as their public and private school peers are. Oftentimes, homeschooled students do much better than their peers do on these tests. This gives them an advantage during the admissions process.

Beyond this first level, when objective data like test scores are gathered, many colleges then incorporate their own admissions tests. Among these, college applications may require students to write an essay as part of the process. This especially allows homeschooled students to shine by expressing their opinions and their own views of the world. This also gives admissions officers insight into students’ abilities and tastes.

These essays often showcase students’ personal interests, aptitude and other attributes that make them unique and noteworthy. This is something homeschoolers can excel in especially, because they have had such a nontraditional education.

Next, advanced placement courses often allow students who have been homeschooled to take classes in an independent study mode. This does not require traditional attendance at a class and can help provide necessary “transcript” data to admissions officers. Many can be taken as part of an accelerated learning program. In this case, the student studies material that is more advanced than that studied by his or her peers at their particular grade level.

These are ways in which school officials can see that homeschooled students are as prepared and perhaps more prepared than their traditionally schooled peers to attend their institution. There is still a prejudice that homeschooled students do not receive as rigorous an education as their public and private school peers do; these methods can help assuage that thinking and not only show that their skills are as adequate as their public school peers’ are, but that they are often more advanced. This will show officials that homeschooled students are more than ready to tackle the challenges that college will bring them.